This is my quest to use Woman's Day magazine as a guide to living a better life, month to month, by incorporating as many of the articles, recipes, and advertising into my life as possible. My goal is to grow as a person, discover more about myself and others, and test my limits, boundaries, and abilities.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Money: Just Call Me Flo

I don't know the exact number of miles I've required of my car this year, but it's up there. Way up there. I commute 45 minutes to work each day and this year I've replaced a transmission and we won't talk about what the car dealership did to me during inspection time (picture me walking as if I've just ridden a very bitter horse for two hours). So when I read the Woman's Day article about enjoying a stress free holiday, I wanted to add to the list of tips and adages by penciling in a reminder for those with similar issues:

Remember to take care of your car. Enduring 25 degree weather in the driver's seat while waiting for a tow truck, is no festive holiday celebration.

Thankfully, since a very reasonable mechanic fixed my transmission (and my broken door handle for free) things have been pretty smooth sailing, with the exception of a windshield wiper that won't work (and that was AFTER the lovely dealership inspection--on a rainy day).

I checked my credit card statement this month, however, to discover that my auto insurance payment had not processed. Concerned about forgetting later on, I quickly wrote a message to my insurance agent through Facebook to determine whether or not I had automatic withdrawal (the Facebook option is prime,s since picking up a phone has always caused anxiety--I love my text messaging and social networking).

The next day, my agent--Tracy Sprouse--responded that I did not have the automatic withdrawal service, but he would be pleased to assist me with setting it up. He then proceeded to tell me that he could save me a considerable amount of money each month if I would be interested in switching to another company. The savings would be around $25 a month.

So of course, I was totally all about that.

It's around this time of year you'll read a lot about the spirit of giving and charity and family and friends. Anyone can give a gift once a year: I'm reminded this time of year what a blessing it is to benefit from those who make honesty, quality, and generosity a staple throughout the entire year. Isn't it even more of a blessing to conduct business with an establishment whose standard reflects these types of values?

Tracy Sprouse has been my agent for over 4 years and I can't think of a single circumstance in which he has been less than gracious, cooperative, and pleasant. Customer service being so rare in general, I don't think it's a stretch to note this experience as outstanding. Not only did he answer my question promptly and thoroughly, but he also went above and beyond by agreeing to meet with me to sign the paperwork for my service on his day off--during the holidays no less--and proactively recommended a benefit that would result in a profit to me, his customer.

A life long resident of Amherst County, Tracy is an independent insurance agent with the ability to sort through multiple companies and select the unique plan that works best for his client's needs. He and his staff have been courteous and available without fail.

In light of the holiday season Sprouse Insurance would like to extend my savings this month to the local community by sponsoring a giveaway for a $25 Visa gift card.

Here are the guidelines:

To make yourself elligible you must:

1. Be a friend of Scrw Lucy on Facebook.

2. "LIKE" Sprouse Insurance Agency on Facebook

3. Be able to pick up your Visa Gift Card at Sprouse Insurance Agency in Madison Heights, VA.

In order to win:

1. Link me to this status on Facebook:

"Sprouse Agency gave Scrw Lucy a 30% savings plus better coverage and I want to win her savings!"

2. Be the person with the most shares on the status above by Sunday, December 19th, 12 a.m. If your privacy settings don't permit shares, then I will accept "likes."

I hope you use your gift card to buy local--it's the gift that keeps on giving to your community.

(I have not received any compensation monetary or material for this review. All opinions are my own and are solely for the benefit of those who read them.)